Ceiling air diffuser

ABSTRACT

A ceiling air diffuser of the elongated slot type, with thermostatically controlled pneumatically positioned air flow control vanes to produce a variable volume modulated conditioned air supply.

United States Patent 1191 Day Nov. 19, 1974 [5 CEILING AIR DIFFUSER3,018,712 1/1962 Wacker 236/49 1 1 Inventor: Thomas Day, Brookfield, Com335223522 5232; EY$2;a;::::::::::.... 1311532123 73 Assigneez ConnorEngineering Corporation 3,653,589 4/1972 McGrath 236/49 Danbury, Conn.

[22] Filed: July 12, 1973 Primary Examiner-William E. Wayner I [21] ppNo; 378,623 Assistant Exammer-Wllham E. Tapolcar, Jr.

[52] [1.8. CI. 236/49, 98/40 D, 225511//23l023, [57] ABSTRACT [5]] Int.Cl F24f 7/06 A Ceilin f g air 1 user 0 the elongated slot type, with[58] Field Of Search 236/49; 98/40 D thermostatically controlledpneumatically positioned air flow control vanes to produce a variablevolume [56] References Clted modulated conditioned air supply.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,506,829 5/1950 Hamilton 236/49 3 Claims, 10Drawing Figures CEILING AIR DIFFUSER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Airdiffusers are the terminal elements in central air conditioningdistribution systems, and their performance is critical to theefficiency and economy of operation of these systems. Most air diffuserinstallations are made advantageously in ceilings, and the elongatedslot type is widely used for establishing good air distributioncharacteristics in large areas.

Smnqct thes g lah speiiqnn l set aturesbu l ntQ the modern air diffuserinclude: horizontal air discharge patterns for good air mixing action;variable volume design for modulating air distribution over a wide rangeof air flow as the space demand requires, keeping both air pressure insupply ducts and discharge velocity from diffuser constant; automaticthermostatically monitored adjustment of air flow control vanes toachieve efficient and carefree operation; and, where an even broaderrange of air flow control is desired, the regulated induction of warmambient air for admixing with conditioned air in the diffusing process.

In addition to the performance features mentioned here, it is mostdesirable for a ceiling air diffuser to be capable of being readilyinstalled or relocated with a minimum of structural change into both newand existing ceilings.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The novel ceiling air diffuser of the presentinvention incorporates all the favorable characteristics outlined above.It has been conceived to include and combine maximum operatingefficiency design with the simplest of installation requirements.

More specifically, the air diffuser of this invention has a pair of endplates notched to fit over, embrace, and be located on a conventionalceiling tee bar. Installation of the air diffuser involves merelysetting the unit in place and making the necessary air supply hose andcontrol tubing connections. Other possible types of ceiling mountinginclude simple openings in plaster ceilings where the side flangesoverlap the opening. For this method of installation, the end plates areformed with matching flanges and a center tee section forms an integralpart of the diffuser assembly. This diffuser may also be located in atee framed opening where all sides rest on tees, usually called exposedTee mounting (see FIG. 7.). In all cases the air passage is independentof the ceiling tees and will perform similarly whether they are presentor not.

Further aspects of this invention will be brought forth clearly in theillustrative embodiments of the drawings and description which follow.

DRAWINGS In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the airdiffuser of this invention mounted on a ceiling tee bar;

FIG. 2 is a partial side elevational view, broken away in part, of thedouble-slot air difiuser of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view, taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2, showing theair flow control vanes in nearclosed position;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 3, but to a larger scale andshowing the air control vanes in a fully opened position and the ceilingtee bar in phantom;

FIG. 5 is a partial sectional view taken along line 55 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a schematic sectional view of the air diffuser of FIGS. l5installed on a ceiling tee bar of a drop ceiling;

FIG. 7 is a schematic sectional view of the air diffuser of FIGS. 1-5installed between existing ceiling tee bars;

FIG. 8 is a schematic sectional view of an alternate embodiment, i.e., asingle slot air diffuser, mounted on the ceiling tee bar of a dropceiling;

FIG. 9 is a partial sectional view of an induction type air diffuserembodying this invention; and

FIG. 10 is an elevational view taken along line 10l0 of FIG. 9 showingfurther detail of the vane positioning mechanism of this embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG. 1 shows a typical elongatedslot air diffuser 10 of this invention mounted on ceiling tee bar T. Asseen in FIGS. 1-5, diffuser unit 10 has a generally rectangular shapedhousing 12 which defines an air plenum chamber 14 (FIGS. 2 and 3). Airinlet port 16 is connected to the supply duct of an air conditioner (notshown) through flexible coupling hose 18. Each lower longitudinal sidewall 20 is joined to and depends from the corresponding side wall ofhousing 12, extending downwardly to an outwardly flared portion 22, andterminates in outwardly extending flange 24. Walls 20 represent theouter longitudinal limit of air discharge slot area 26, as clearly seenin FIGS. 3-5.

At each end of air diffuser 10, an end plate 28 extends transverselyacross the space between lower side walls 20 and serves to terminate airdiffuser discharge slot area 26. A centrally located notch 30 in eachend plate 28 is proportioned to fit over and engage the central verticalweb 32 of ceiling tee bar T, with the bottom of each end plate 28resting on horizontal flanges 34 of ceiling tee bar T.

As seen clearly in FIG. 4, when air diffuser unit 10 is in place, fixedmember 40 divides air diffuser discharge slot area 26 into two airstreams, and joving vanes 44 become the inner walls of each airdischarge slot. The resultant configuration of each air discharge slot36, with outwardly flared wall portion 22 assures the desirablehorizontal air flow pattern indicated by the arrows A of FIG. 4.

A support bracket 40 is attached along the central longitudinal axis ofair diffuser housing 12 and pivotally carries the pair of arcuate airflow control vanes 42, each with its free end 44 extending downwardlyinto its own air discharge slot 36. Springs 46, resting across the topof bracket 40 and connected at each end to spring clips 48, resilientlyurge control vane ends 44. outwardly toward wall portions 22, to theposition of FIGS. 3 and 5, so that vanes 42 normally close offcommunication between air plenum chamber 14 and air discharge slots 36.

Vane positioning mechanism, generally designated 50 and located in thecentral portion of air diffuser 10, includes pneumatic motor 52, mountedon bracket 54, with downwardly extending piston rod 56 carrying supportyoke 58. Each side of yoke 58 rotatably supports a pair of rollers 60,positioned to contact the outer arcuate surfaces of vanes 42. Pneumaticmotor 52 is actuated and controlled by thermostat 62 (FIG. 1), which maybe mounted conveniently on air diffuser directly as shown, or elsewhereif desired. Tubing 64 connects motor 52 with thermostat 62; tubing 66joins thermostat 62 with the pneumatic air supply (not shown).

As can be readily seen, demand for conditioned air, transmitted fromthermostat 62, actuates motor 52 to project yoke 58 and rollers 60downwardly. By virtue of their arcuate surfaces, vanes 42 are cammed andpivoted inwardly and held in position by rollers 60 against the actionof springs 46. This selective rotation of vanes 42 opens communicationbetween air plenum chamber 14 and air discharge slots 36, permittingvariable conditioned air flow as required.

Thus air diffuser 10 provides a variable volume conditioned air supplyby changing its air outlet area, maintaining constant air duct pressureand constant air discharge velocity, and distributing the air in ahorizontal pattern for maximum efficiency.

Installation of air diffuser 10 in a typical drop ceiling isschematically illustrated in FIG. 6, where end plates 28 have beenmounted on existing ceiling tee bar T. To accommodate airdiffuser 10,ceiling tiles 70 have been cut back from their phantom position shownwhere they had rested on horizontal flanges 34 of the tee bar, and tiles70 are here supported by flanges 24 of lower diffuser walls 20.

An alternate installation is described in FIG. 7, where air diffuser 10is mounted between existing ceiling bars T. Here, flanges 24 of thediffuser 10 rest on flanges 34 of the previously existing ceiling teesT, while a new tee bar 72 is provided to give the same appearance as theceiling tee bar T of FIGS. 1,4 and 6.

In FIG. 8, a single air discharge slot difluser 10 is illustratedschematically. All structure, function, and operation of diffuser 10' isidentical with that of diffuser 10 described above, except that only onedischarge slot 36, exists created by one lower wall 20 and one air flowcontrol vane 42 and its associated position-control mechanism. Theopposite lower wall 20 is replaced by hollow wall 74.

Another embodiment of this invention is shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, wherevariable volume air diffuser 110 is of the induction type, in whichambient air may be may be induced in selectively variable amounts andadmixed with the conditioned air provided from plenum air chamber 114.

Each lower side wall 120 depends from the corresponding longitudinalside wall of housing 112, extending downwardly to an outwardly flaredportion 122 and terminating in outwardly extending flange 124. Endplates 128 are notched at 130 to accept the vertical web 1320f ceilingtee bar T. Dual air discharge slots 136 are thus created by each vane142 as the outside limit of its slot and vertical sleeve 168 with thecorresponding horizontal flange of sleeve 168 as the inner wall of eachair discharge slot 136.

Separate pivotal mountings 140 are provided for paired, elongated airflow control vanes 142, each of which terminates at its lower downstreamfree end in a bead portion 144. Leaf springs 146 are affixed to thewalls of housing 112 and bear against flow control vanes 142, which arethus resiliently held in the normal closed solid-line position of FIG.9.

Vane positioning mechanism 150 comprises pneumatic motor 152, mounted onsupport bracket 154 and downwardly projecting piston rod 156. Vanecontacting element 160 is threadedly connected to piston rod 156 and hasa pair of oppositely disposed notches 162, adapted for slidableengagement with the arms 164 of guide member 166, which in turn issupported by sleeve 168, embracing vertical web 132 of ceiling tee T.

It is clear that downward movement of vane contacting element 160 willprogressively open communication between conditioned air plenum chamber1 l4 and air discharge slots 136, until the fully open position shown inphantom in FIG. 9 is reached. Any intermediate position of the vanes142, inducing ambient air in the direction of arrows B (through inletports not shown) into the gaps between vanes 142 and walls 120. Thecombined air then emerges from discharge slots 136 in the horizontaldistribution pattern dictated by the discharge slot configuration.

The induction air diffuser obviously may be installed in a ceiling justas simply as, and in the same manner as, air diffuser 10 describedabove.

Illustrative and non-limiting examples of this invention have beendisclosed fully herein; the inventive concepts represented are definedby the appended claims.

What is claimed:

1. An air diffuser of the elongated-slot type for mounting on a ceilingtee bar, comprising:

an elongated air plenum chamber housing;

at least one elongated vertically disposed outwardly flaring lower sidewall, depending from the corresponding side wall of said air plenumchamber housing and defining the outerside of an elongated air dischargeslot of the air diffuser;

a pair of vertically disposed transverse end plates, one at either endof the air diffuser, each of said end plates having a centrally locatednotch adapted to fit over and engage the vertically upstanding web ofthe ceiling tee bar, so that when the air diffuser is mounted in place,the vertical web and one horizontal flange of the ceiling tee bar appearnormally asin other areas of the ceiling, but help to hide from view theoperating mechanism of the diffuser;

at least one elongated'air flow control vane pivotally mounted at itsupper end, with its lower free end resiliently urged toward one side ofthe elongated air discharge slot to a position in which said air flowcontrol vane cuts off communication between said air plenum chamberhousing and the air discharge slot; and means for selectivelypositioning the free lower end of said air flow control vane andvariably opening communication between said plenum chamber housing andthe air discharge-slot, thereby regulating the effective airoutlet'opening. 2. An air difiuser as defined in claim 1, wherein eachof two of said outwardly flaring lower side walls define the outer sideof an elongated air discharge slot, while the center assembly straddlesthe web of the ceiling tee bar and defines the inner side of anelongated air discharge slot, so that a pair of mirror-image orientedelongated air discharge slots are formed, and wherein a pair of said airflow control vanes, one for each air discharge slot, are controlled byone and the same means for selectively positioning the free lower endsof said air flow control vanes.

ling said pneumatic motor; and

at least one vane contacting element, adapted to bear against andposition said air flow control vane when said vane contacting element islowered or raised by said pneumatic motor.

1. An air diffuser of the elongated-slot type for mounting on a ceilingtee bar, comprising: an elongated air plenum chamber housing; at leastone elongated vertically disposed outwardly flaring lower side wall,depending from the coRresponding side wall of said air plenum chamberhousing and defining the outerside of an elongated air discharge slot ofthe air diffuser; a pair of vertically disposed transverse end plates,one at either end of the air diffuser, each of said end plates having acentrally located notch adapted to fit over and engage the verticallyupstanding web of the ceiling tee bar, so that when the air diffuser ismounted in place, the vertical web and one horizontal flange of theceiling tee bar appear normally as in other areas of the ceiling, buthelp to hide from view the operating mechanism of the diffuser; at leastone elongated air flow control vane pivotally mounted at its upper end,with its lower free end resiliently urged toward one side of theelongated air discharge slot to a position in which said air flowcontrol vane cuts off communication between said air plenum chamberhousing and the air discharge slot; and means for selectivelypositioning the free lower end of said air flow control vane andvariably opening communication between said plenum chamber housing andthe air discharge slot, thereby regulating the effective air outletopening.
 2. An air diffuser as defined in claim 1, wherein each of twoof said outwardly flaring lower side walls define the outer side of anelongated air discharge slot, while the center assembly straddles theweb of the ceiling tee bar and defines the inner side of an elongatedair discharge slot, so that a pair of mirror-image oriented elongatedair discharge slots are formed, and wherein a pair of said air flowcontrol vanes, one for each air discharge slot, are controlled by oneand the same means for selectively positioning the free lower ends ofsaid air flow control vanes.
 3. The air diffuser defined in claim 1,wherein said means for selectively positioning the free lower end ofsaid air flow control vane comprises: a pneumatic motor, mounted withinsaid elongated air plenum chamber housing; a thermostat operativelyconnected to and controlling said pneumatic motor; and at least one vanecontacting element, adapted to bear against and position said air flowcontrol vane when said vane contacting element is lowered or raised bysaid pneumatic motor.